Review: Intel Pentium Anniversary Edition G3258

The overclockers' favourite

Remember the days when you could take a cheap processor, overclock it to rude levels using basic air cooling, and then achieve the kind of performance normally reserved for far more expensive chips? Those days are largely gone, more's the pity, because AMD's base CPU performance isn't great while Intel limits overclocking on cheaper non-K processors by locking the maximum all-core multiplier and base clock ratio to the chip's default level. Want to go faster, spend the extra and buy a K-series chip.

In a somewhat surprising move disclosed earlier this month, Intel decided to launch a budget processor with K-class overclocking credentials. Said chip is the Pentium Anniversary Edition, based on the same Haswell architecture as the latest Core series, but now with an unlocked multiplier that paves the way for end-user tinkering.

Launched to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the first Pentium processor, this new budget chip is actually known as the Pentium G3258. Imbued with two cores and able to process a total of two threads, G3258 is nominally clocked in at 3.20GHz and backed with 3MB of cache. It isn't the fastest Pentium G-series chip on paper; that honour goes to the G3450, which is able to run at a maximum of 3.40GHz. Here's how select Intel processors line up against one another.

Better than it looks on paper

Desktop Intel 'Haswell' Feature Comparison

Intel Core i5-4670K

Intel Core
i3-4130

Intel Pentium G3450

Intel Pentium G3258

Intel Pentium G3220

Launch Date

Q2 2013

Q3 2013

Q2 2014

Q2 2014

Q3 2013

Cores

4

2

2

2

2

Threads

4

4

2

2

2

Unlocked multiplier

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

CPU Clock Speed

3.4GHz

3.4 GHz

3.4GHz

3.2GHz

3.0GHz

CPU Turbo Speed

3.8GHz

-

-

-

-

Smart Cache

6MB

3 MB

3MB

3MB

3MB

TDP

84W

54W

53W

53W

53W

DDR3 Memory Support

1,600

1,600

1,600

1,333

1,333

Integrated Graphics

HD 4600

HD 4400

HD

HD

HD

IGP Execution Units

20

20

10

10

10

IGP Base Clock

350MHz

350 MHz

350MHz

350MHz

350MHz

IGP Max Clock

1.20GHz

1.15 GHz

1.10GHz

1.10GHz

1.10GHz

QuickSync Video

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Wireless Display

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

ClearVideo HD

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

InTru 3D

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Displays Supported

3

3

3

3

3

PCI Express Revision

3.0

3.0

3.0

3.0

3.0

PCI Express Configurations

Up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8/2x4

Up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8/2x4

Up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8/2x4

Up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8/2x4

Up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8/2x4

Max PCI Express Lanes

16

16

16

16

16

Turbo Boost

Yes

No

No

No

No

Hyper Threading

No

Yes

No

No

No

vPro

Yes

No

No

No

No

AES New Instructions

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Socket

LGA1150

LGA1150

LGA1150

LGA1150

LGA1150

US Box RRP

$242

$125

$93

$72

$64

The dual-core Pentiums sip on less juice than the Core i5-4670K that most enthusiasts will be familiar with. A leaner architecture - both in terms of CPU and baked-in GPU - means that Pentium Gs are rated to just 53W. Most enthusiasts would likely think the G3258 too low rent for a decent PC, but the very fact that it is unlocked, and has the potential to run at way past 4GHz with a bit of novice tweaking, may have them thinking again, especially with regards to gaming.

Too good to pass up?

We already know that the Pentium G3220, priced at £40, offers excellent value for money. Increasing the budget by a tenner, to this model, is sure to provide significantly more performance once it is adequately overclocked. It's an easy chip to recommend, too, as cheap LGA1150 boards are plentiful, dual-channel memory is widely available, and constructing a base platform hardly breaks the bank.

Putting ourselves in the position of the reader, we'd like to know if default-clocked performance is adequate for a mainstream PC, and whether overclocked performance gives vastly more expensive Core processors a good run for their money. Let's answer both with a slew of benchmarks.